The monster in our sink

I walked towards the sink with my dirty dish in hand, stomach semi-full of the typical supper of rice mixed with a few measly veggies. Carbs. I have consumed so many carbs over the time that I’ve been here. Between the white rice, white bread, and white spaghetti there is hardly a nutrient to be seen. We hurry into the stores and scan the fresh vegetables and fruit that they offer: overpriced eggplant - pale purple and wrinkly, broccoli - seldom good but often freckled with brown spots, and packaged baby carrots that have survived through the Cold War. Sometimes we get lucky and are blessed with cabbage, peppers, and the occasional green leaf. We only have 30 minutes for lunch, and that isn't nearly enough time! So Jules and have resorted to preparing nearly all of our food in the evenings so that we don’t have to worry about that. There’s always rice in the fridge, and we’re going to start making small armies of pancakes to freeze for later consumption.

Reaching the sink I stretched out my hand and twisted the cold nob towards me.

PFFT, PFFT! WHAP!

I dropped the dishes into the sink with a crash, and then winced as the sound of my short-lived scream reached my ears. Is it thunder? No.

There’s a monster in our sink.

He holds the water back when we’re trying to wash our dishes, and only when he so feels called will let some through the pipes with violent intensity. The water hits the sink and then is ricocheted toward us at lighting speed. We can hear his malicious giggles as we try to dodge out of the way of his lethal watery rage.

A task as simple as washing the dishes can turn into a frightful dance – a dance in which we do not know the steps, but will be sorely punished if we step incorrectly.

Often I walk away from the sink with my shirt wet, my glasses covered with drops, and the monster’s chortles fading away behind me.

No matter how we mentally prepare ourselves as we go to the sink, he always gets us.

The torture continues in the shower. I’ll be enjoying the cool water when suddenly - PFSH, THWAP!! - the shower’s stream turns to either little pathetic spits or vicious pounding until the monster gets tired of his games and moves on.

We turn the water off just to spite him.

In other news, we caught three rats in our trap the other night – the three musketeers. Mecha named them Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest. It was like they all were having some religious rat ritual in the trap when it closed on them… so unfortunate. I think Dumbest was the one on the bottom when I peeked in there and saw that they were all sitting on one.

A group of us went to Pisiwi last Sunday (pronounced Bee-sea-wee), and so I enjoyed a day of riding crazy waves, eating pineapple, and snorkeling while neglecting to put sunscreen on the backs of my legs.

So yeah, things are going well. I like teaching high school, and I really enjoy getting to know a lot of kids due to the broad range of grades I teach. Just pray that my students finally decide to turn in their homework!!

On our way to Pisiwi!